By John Ikani
The United States of America says it has shipped about 5.2 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to Egypt and Nigeria.
The shipment disclosed to newsmen by a White House official were the latest in a global campaign of donations from the United States.
More than 400 million shots have already been sent against a target of 1.1 billion as the US – and other countries producing vaccines against the pandemic – seemingly acts against criticism of not doing enough to blunt the virus’ global spread, while trying to get their own populations fully vaccinated and boosted.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the official said 2,999,880 doses of Pfizer are going to Nigeria and 2,158,650 doses are going to Egypt.
He went on to note that the shipment departed on Thursday and was due to arrive by Monday, went through Covax, a global delivery initiative co-led with public-private partnership Gavi.
Washington is “leading the world in a global vaccine strategy because it’s the right thing to do. It’s the right thing morally, the right thing from a global public health perspective, and right for our collective security and well-being,” the official said.
According to him, President Joe Biden’s “administration understands that putting an end to this pandemic requires eliminating it around the world.”
According to Johns Hopkins University, just under 29 percent of Egypt’s population is fully vaccinated. The coronavirus has killed an estimated 23,519 people there.
In Nigeria, no more than 2.7 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, according to JHU. Only 3,141 deaths have been reported.
